Housing construction builds expectations Published Nov. 14, 2006 By Tech. Sgt. Arlo Taylor 314th Airlift Wing Strategic Information Flight LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Excitement and expectations are building on Missouri Circle as Phase IIA, junior NCO housing, of the American Eagle Communities housing construction project progresses. Plans are for families to move into the three prototype homes in October, according to American Eagle Communities officials. The project has seemingly taken off in the past month with semi-truck convoys delivering building materials and housing frames going up. "We will have 10 houses completed - framed, dried-in and sheathed - by the end of next week and will have 13 more completed within the next 30 days," said Kathryn Thompson, American Eagle Communities managing director. American Eagle officials said the project's sudden progress was part of a plan to lay a firm foundation for construction literally. Approximately 30 concrete slabs have been poured to get the project ready for vertical construction. "For the last few months, crews have been busy completing grading, plumbing and concrete tasks necessary to enable the framing crews to 'take off' so quickly," said Tom Brockway. American Eagles' Little Rock project director. "As you can see, workmen can quickly erect and roof an entire house." Eagle generated renewed buzz for the project with Open Houses of the three prototype units in late August. Tenants were impressed by the designs according to visitor feedback. "(People were impressed by the fact that (units) are single-standing, detached homes," said Francie Escovedo, Little Rock Family Housing property manager. "They also liked garages, the additional storage and the overall spaciousness of the homes." The lessons learned in construction of the three model units allowed American Eagle to work with contractors and designers to streamline construction procedures and design standards, giving tenants a better product. "We purposely built the three prototypes, to get a good feel of how the drawings would translate into 3-D space," said Mr. Brockway. "The changes we made on these three homes not only make the production houses so much better; we are carrying those lessons learned onto the seven other models that we will be building. The finished models of Phase II are a 1,708 square foot single story three bedroom unit, a 1,679 square foot two-story three-bedroom unit and a 1,833 square foot four bedroom unit. For more information about family housing, visit the American Eagle Communities web site at www.littlerockfamilyhousing.com.